Castelo de Castelo Mendo - Castelo Mendo, Portugal
Posted by: 
tmob
N 40° 35.535 W 006° 56.977
29T E 673504 N 4495515
The Castle of Castelo Mendo was declared as a National Monument in 1910
Waymark Code: WMDMAY
Location: Guarda, Portugal
Date Posted: 01/30/2012
Views: 5
It is believed that the primitive castle dates back to the turn of the 12th century to the 13th century, under the reign of D. Sancho I of Portugal (1185-1211). The town received charters, passed by D. Sancho II of Portugal (1223-1248), on the March 15, 1229.
Part of the territory of Ribacôa, was disputed by the Kingdom of Leon by D. Dinis of Portugal (1279-1325); the final possession was secured to Portugal by the Treaty of Alcanices (1297).
With peace, dependent on their meager economic resources and population, the village went into decline. At the beginning of the reign of King D. João I (1385-1433), the village was transformed into a refuge of fugitives.
At the time of the Peninsular War, a garrison of nineteen men in the town resisted the Napoleonic troops under the command of Andre Massena.
Castelo Mendo ceased to be the county seat in 1855, widening, thereafter, its decadence.
In the twentieth century, the castle was declared a National Monument on January 2, 1946.
Since then, the Directorate-General for National Buildings and Monuments (DGEMN) undertook interventions of consolidation and restoration, rebuilding various sections of walls, gates and towers, according to scholars, would have distorted the original appearance of the set.
The building of the former Town Hall and Jail was reclassified as a museum, showing visitors to parts of the Roman period.
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